Renewing Gender : An Orthodox Perspective

The explosion of transgender ideology in the last decade has left many Christians bewildered and at a loss as to how to respond. As the tenets of this movement become entrenched in Western society, an acute need arises for a pastoral response that is rooted in an Orthodox understanding of the human person to provide priests, parents, and other counselors with tools to address this phenomenon. Orthodox Christian scholar Dr Jean-Claude Larchet seeks to answer the claims of gender theory with a scriptural and patristic vision of man as God created him, for communion with Him. The author shows that Christianity proposes a transfiguration of gender that goes beyond the limits of both fallen human nature and vacillating social norms. Examining the history of gender theory and its mass promotion, Dr Larchet untangles the complex web of this ideology. He shows that Christianity has always upheld the equality of the sexes and promoted their harmonious union. It does so by advocating a mutual struggle against the passions, the true source of all conflicts between men and women, and the practice of virtues common to both. Such a life allows for a spiritual transcendence that nevertheless preserves difference, a source of mutual enrichment. A translation from the French original, Renewing Gender represents the first major work systematically addressing gender theory from an Orthodox perspective for an English-speaking audience.